Federal DOJ interested in North Colonie schools case

Disability Rights New York position gains support from agency

Published 10:48 pm, Wednesday, July 8, 2015

The U.S. Department of Justice is weighing in on a lawsuit between a disability rights group and the North Colonie Central School District over its special education program.

The federal agency has filed a "statement of interest,'' similar to a friend-of-the-court brief, in the suit brought by Disability Rights New York.

"They are not a party (to the lawsuit), but they are coming into the case to say, 'This is of concern to us,'" Michael Bennet, Disability Rights' legal director, and General Counsel Cliff Zucker said of the filing.

Disability Rights is suing over what it contends was the North Colonie district's refusal to provide access to internal memos and documents regarding a special education program at Blue Creek Elementary School.

A federally mandated "protection and advocacy'' organization, Disability Rights watches out for the rights of the disabled. Its representatives visited the school last year after hearing complaints about how students with special needs were placed in a "time-out room'' when they acted up.

Disability Rights has drawn no conclusions about the way special education students at Blue Creek were actually treated and at this point is seeking to finish its investigation. The sides are in court over the extent of investigators' access school records.

School officials maintain they offer a solid program for those with disabilities. Superintendent Joseph Corr said the federal letter was part of the process in the lawsuit, "something that the other side is entitled to do.''

The legal battle concerns whether the rules on oversight of disabled youngsters apply to a school setting, compared to a residential center.

Blue Creek's special education program serves about 50 students, according to court papers. Among the allegations from 2014 that triggered the scrutiny were complaints that a youngster arrived at school one day with a backpack full of medications that the school nurse was supposed to get but didn't. It is also alleged that students ran out of the school building through a busy parking lot and street.